Rumpelstiltskin
by Disturbed Muffin
Summary: The true stories behind the fairy tales are never what we're used to.


_A/N: Wow, I haven't written fanfic in a long time! I've just become such a fan of Once Upon A Time that I wanted to make a backstory for my favourite character...even though it will be totally wrong._

Once upon a time there was a king. His kingdom was not terribly big, and, having squandered the treasury of his own castle, was not terribly wealthy either. Those unfortunate enough to live in this land got by on scraps if they were lucky, working hard to merely survive.

One such person was a miller. Though he worked hard and earned so little in return, he was a good, peaceful man who cared deeply for his family and would never harm a soul. He was also a sorcerer of sorts, though he kept this a secret, knowing full well that the King always captured magicians, imprisoned them as his servants, and worked them to death. Every day, after returning from his work, he would sit down with his daughter, who also inherited his abilities, and warn her not to tell anyone.

"If you reveal our secret, the king will surely come for us both," he said.

"I will never tell," the girl promised.

Unfortunately, the miller's wife became ill and collapsed in the town square. With no one around who could possibly help, the girl scooped up some water from a puddle and through use of her magic, transformed it into medicine. It did not work, however, as her mother's heart had stopped the moment she fell to the ground, and the panic had alerted the palace guard who promptly dragged the girl before the king to be enslaved.

"If you can transform water into medicine," the king reasoned, "surely you can transform other things?"

Scared, the girl replied that she could, and was dragged to the top of a tower with three chambers. The first room was fairly small and filled to the ceiling with straw.

"If you can spin this straw into gold, you may live another night."

Resigned to her fate, the girl sat at the spinning wheel and began to use her magic to turn the straw into gold.

The miller, hearing of what happened to his daughter, threw himself before the king, asking for her freedom.

"Why should I give up something so useful to the kingdom?" the king said, "Do you not want your land to be wealthier?"

"At least give me assurance that she is alright!" the miller begged.

The king agreed and had the guard go to the chamber where the daughter was imprisoned, demanding some token to assure her father that she was well.

"My necklace," said the girl, handing it over, "he bought it for me the day I was born."

Taking her necklace back home with him, the miller sat alone at his tiny dinner table, waiting to hear the news that his daughter could go free.

The king came to the girl the next day, pleased to find that all the straw left in the chamber had been turned to gold. He then had her locked in a second, larger chamber which contained even more straw.

"If you can spin this straw into gold, I may live another night."

The girl, still terrified, agreed, and began once again to spin straw into gold, fingers painfully cracking with the effort.

The miller, hearing of his daughter's further imprisonment, once again came before the king and asked for his daughter's freedom. Once again denied this, he begged for another token to reassure him of his child's well-being.

The king sent the guard back into the second chamber, demanding the girl part with another object.

"My ring," she said, pulling it off her bloody finger and handing it over, "given to me when I turned sixteen."

Taking the ring, and noticing the blood, the miller was once again left alone in his home to worry about his daughter.

The next day, the king once again returned to the girl and was delighted by the gold she had created for him from straw. The girl was again dragged to another chamber filled with straw, one of the largest in the castle.

"If you can once again turn all this straw into gold, I will free you from this tower and reward you handsomely."

Exhausted, but pleased that this was her final night in such captivity, the girl fought past the pain and began to spin once more.

Again, hearing of his daughter's imprisonment, the miller begged the king for proof of her safety if he could not have her freedom, and again the guard was sent to the girl to ask for some sort of token.

The girl had nothing left to give, however, and simply passed along a message to her father that she was alive and well. With nothing to take home to reassure himself, the miller spent the night alone in his home, weeping for the fate of his family.

The next day, the king opened the chamber to find the girl collapsed in a pile of gold, fingers bleeding from all the spinning she had done. Though she had transformed all the straw in the tower to gold, the king's greed was insatiable, and he did not want to return the girl.

"I will make you my wife and my castle will be filled with wealth and splendour for the rest of my reign."

The girl attempted to protest, but the king would not hear reason and married her that evening. Once again hearing about his daughter's fate and furious that the king did not let her go free as promised, the miller again came before the king.

Fearing that his new queen would attempt to escape, the king had her bound in chains to her throne, which only put the miller into further rage.

"You promised her freedom!" he said, "I demand you let my child go!"

"I could not find a richer wife in the whole world," the kind said, "why should I let her go free?"

"Because she is not the most powerful sorcerer in the room. My magic is stronger than her's by threefold."

"You are a peaceful man and do not use your powers. How do I know you will truly sacrifice yourself for your child?"

The miller could not deny that he was reluctant to use his abilities, knowing that magic was never as simple as it seemed. Yet his love for his daughter was greater than all this and he was willing to do anything to see her go free.

"I will give you my true name," he said, knowing that true names had power and that the first person to hear it would have total control over him.

"Father, no!" the girl begged, but the king silenced her with a look.

"Very well. You give me your true name, and I will let your daughter go free."

Standing straight and proud in spite of the circumstances, the miller said, "My true name is Rumpelstiltskin."

The king laughed, triumphant, "On your knees, _Rumpelstiltskin_."

Rumpelstiltskin fell to his knees immediately, now under the king's control.

"Oh, this is very good," the king said, "I have a wife who can make gold from straw and a powerful servant under my complete control."

"But you promised she'd go free!" Rumpelstiltskin said, still unable to rise.

"I lied. Having such a queen is far more precious than a mere deal," the king sneered.

Rumpelstiltskin was forced to obey the king and was tormented every day as his slave, trapped by the lie but unable to do anything about it. The king was merciless, forcing Rumpelstiltskin to use dark magic against the land's enemies, slowly corrupting the once peaceful man's soul. The queen, however, was bound only in mortal chains, and could not sit by and allow her father to be hurt so. She began to practice in secret to strengthen her magical abilities in hopes of planning their escape.

With such powers on his side, the king's treasury was once again overflowing with riches and he invited all the royal families from all the kingdoms to celebrate his accomplishments.

The guests did not knowing of the details of the king's marriage, and could not have known that the queen was chained to her chair beneath the tablecloth. Nor did they realize that the filthy servant pouring them wine whenever their goblets were drained was her entrapped father. Instead, they simply sat back, laughed, and rejoiced in each other's company. The queen sat calmly in her chair and played her part, waiting for her husband and his guests to get suitably drunk of the fine wine that had been imported for the occasion.

Finally, when the king was so full that his cheeks were bright red, the queen used her magic to turn the chains binding her to the chair into snakes, which she then threw at the king, who was poisoned by their bites and instantly killed.

With the king dead, the girl rose to rejoin her father so that they could finally return home after their time in imprisonment. Unfortunately the guests, still unaware of the circumstances around such a horrible display, though that the former queen had gone mad. One of the kings unsheathed his sword and, before she could even so much as take two steps, stabbed her in the heart for her treachery.

"NO!"

Rumpelstiltskin ran to his daughter, but she was dead before she could even land in his arms. Gathering the body close to him, all the anger and pain Rumpelstiltskin had sustained finally came to a head, and he rounded on the royals before him, fury burning in his eyes.

"You fools! Look what you've done! You rush to avenge this evil man who could not even honour his own deals, yet you put to death an innocent girl who only wanted her freedom! Well, no more. No more lies and gaining everything you desire with no consequences. You will all live to regret this day. I, Rumpelstiltskin, will see to that."

His curse now known to all, Rumpelstiltskin disappeared, promising himself that their happy endings would always come with a price.


End file.
